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Friends Help Heart Attack Patient Finish House Renovations

NEW SEWICKLEY TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- A local contractor was known for helping friends in need, but when a major heart attack struck down his home renovation plans, he learned the truth of that old adage: "what goes around comes around."

Jaime and Wanda Bailey collect eggs from the chickens at their New Sewickley home. Life was good until that night.

"I don't remember the car ride, but five minutes before we got to the hospital I was going onto cardiac arrest," said Jaime Bailey.

When the 40-year-old contractor woke up from a three-day coma, doctors installed a pacemaker.

His normal optimism was crushed by the knowledge that work he was doing on his 100-year-old home would never be finished. Or so he thought.

"When I come back from the hospital, I come out of the car to about 40 people here re-doing the whole house," Bailey said.

Friends and family had been busy in his absence.

"They did all the siding, the gutters; it was awesome. I bawled like a baby," he said. "It was really overwhelming. Love is neat, that's for sure."

Ross Bailey says his younger brother was known for helping others with no profit to himself. Until now.

"It's a very good example that when you reach out to others, to help others, that when you're in your time of need, they'll reach out to help you," said Ross Bailey.

Though her husband's physical heart was damaged, Wanda says, deep down "he has a good heart."

"He always wants to help someone else, and he's just a good person," she said.

Things that once seemed so simple now mean so much.

"I didn't like them so much before this happened," Jaime said of the chickens. "Now, I like the chicken eggs."

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